Readout: Disability Advisory Committee Meeting – November 13 and 14, 2024

From: Canada Revenue Agency

The Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) held its third meeting of the year, in Ottawa, Ontario over two days. Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) DAC co-chair, Assistant Commissioner, Assessment, Benefit, and Service Branch, Gillian Pranke, began the meeting by welcoming everyone to the in-person event. She was pleased to announce that the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of National Revenue, would be joining the committee the next day to share her remarks. She introduced colleagues from ESDC and officials from Finance Canada, both of whom would be presenting on the first day. Vice-chair Mr. Guillaume Parent and co-chair Dr. Jennifer Zwicker then shared their opening remarks.

Mr. Parent extended his warm welcome to members and emphasized the critical role of the DAC in advancing meaningful outcomes.

Dr. Zwicker in turn shared the work ahead for the committee. She also expressed her gratitude to key contributors, including Gillian Pranke and former co-chair and vice-chair, Sharon McCarry and Jonathan Lai.

Ms. Pranke thanked Mr. Parent and Dr. Zwicker for their remarks and highlighted the presence of new members to the meeting. She invited DAC co-chair Dr. Zwicker to introduce the members of the committee.

Dr. Zwicker introduced the new members and invited them to share their interest in being on the committee, what they want to achieve, their priorities and their background.

New members, who joined the committee are Randy Dickinson, Noralou Roos, Lois (Looee) Mike, Paul Lupien, and Veronika Kiryanova.

The Canada Revenue Agency provided updates on the CRA’s efforts to assist vulnerable individuals with tax services. Consultations have been conducted, revealing a measurable increase in tax awareness and literacy. CRA’s level of Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) and outreach sessions remains consistent with pre-pandemic levels.

The CRA provided an update on several automatic tax filing services to reduce filing barriers for lower-income individuals.

The DAC had an opportunity to discuss the approach with ESDC and Service Canada proposed by the government to support the community of persons with disabilities as it relates to the disability tax credit as a gateway to the Canada Disability Benefit.

The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau expressed her appreciation to the DAC for their dedication to making Canada a fairer place for people with disabilities and their supporting caregivers. She shared her priorities as Minister of National Revenue and invited each member in attendance to introduce themselves, and share their top priorities with her. This was followed by questions and discussion with committee members.  

Ms. Pranke provided a short recap of the topics discussed followed by Dr. Zwicker who provided a summary of the DAC’s fifth annual report. Dr. Zwicker presented the structure, background information and recommendations of the report, and highlighted key statistics on disability in Canada, including DTC application rates.

Dr. Zwicker led a discussion with the members and reviewed the DAC's mandate. She emphasized the need to include the youth population in their future discussions. She highlighted the need to incorporate a human rights approach, intersectionality and the “nothing without us” principle.

Ms. Pranke thanked the members for their questions and insightful comments. She shared that over the years, the composition of the DAC has changed, and with this change comes new perspectives. CRA will continue to support the DAC’s efforts to improve the administration of the DTC and related gateway benefits.

Dr. Zwicker shared her remarks to adjourn the meeting.